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Webster 1913 Edition

Utter

Ut′ter

,
Adj.
[OE.
utter
, originally the same word as
outer
. See
Out
, and cf.
Outer
,
Utmost
.]
1.
Outer.
“Thine utter eyen.”
Chaucer.
[Obs.]
“By him a shirt and utter mantle laid.”
Chapman.
As doth an hidden moth
The inner garment fret, not th’
utter
touch.
Spenser.
2.
Situated on the outside, or extreme limit; remote from the center; outer.
[Obs.]
Through
utter
and through middle darkness borne.
Milton.
The very
utter
part of Saint Adelmes point is five miles from Sandwich.
Holinshed.
3.
Complete; perfect; total; entire; absolute;
as,
utter
ruin;
utter
darkness
.
They . . . are
utter
strangers to all those anxious thoughts which disquiet mankind.
Atterbury.
4.
Peremptory; unconditional; unqualified; final;
as, an
utter
refusal or denial
.
Clarendon.
Utter bar
(Law)
,
the whole body of junior barristers.
See
Outer bar
, under 1st
Outer
.
[Eng.]
–
Utter barrister
(Law)
,
one recently admitted as barrister, who is accustomed to plead without, or outside, the bar, as distinguished from the benchers, who are sometimes permitted to plead within the bar.
[Eng.]
Cowell.

Ut′ter

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Uttered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Uttering
.]
[OE.
outren
, freq. of
outen
to utter, put out, AS.
ūtian
to put out, eject, fr.
ūt
out. √198. See
Out
, and cf.
Utter
,
Adj.
]
1.
To put forth or out; to reach out.
[Obs.]
How bragly [proudly] it begins to bud,
And
utter
his tender head.
Spenser.
2.
To dispose of in trade; to sell or vend.
[Obs.]
Such mortal drugs I have, but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that
utters
them.
Shakespeare
They bring it home, and
utter
it commonly by the name of Newfoundland fish.
Abp. Abbot.
3.
hence, to put in circulation, as money; to put off, as currency; to cause to pass in trade; – often used, specifically, of the issue of counterfeit notes or coins, forged or fraudulent documents, and the like;
as, to
utter
coin or bank notes
.
The whole kingdom should continue in a firm resolution never to receive or
utter
this fatal coin.
Swift.
4.
To give public expression to; to disclose; to publish; to speak; to pronounce.
“Sweet as from blest, uttering joy.”
Milton.
The words I
utter

Let none think flattery, for they 'll find 'em truth.
Shakespeare
And the last words he
uttered
called me cruel.
Addison.
Syn. – To deliver; give forth; issue; liberate; discharge; pronounce. See
Deliver
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Utter

UT'TER

,
Adj.
1.
Situated on the outside or remote from the center.
2.
Placed or being beyond any compass; out of any place; as the utter deep.
3.
Extreme; excessive; utmost; as utter darkness.
4.
Complete; total; final; as utter ruin.
5.
Peremptory; absolute; as an utter refusal or denial.
6.
Perfect; mere; quite; as utter strangers.

UT'TER

, v.t.
1.
To speak; to pronounce; to express; as, to utter words; to utter sounds.
2.
To disclose; to discover; to divulge; to publish. He never utters a syllable of what I suppose to be intended as a secret.
3.
To sell; to vend; as, to utter wares. [This is obsolete, unless in the law style.]
4.
To put or send into circulation; to put off, as currency, or cause to pass in commerce; as, to utter coin or notes. A man utters a false note, who gives it in payment, knowing it to be false.

Definition 2024

utter

utter

English

Adjective

utter ‎(not comparable)

  1. (now poetic, literary) Outer; furthest out, most remote. [from 10th c.]
    • Chapman
      By him a shirt and utter mantle laid.
    • Spenser
      As doth an hidden moth / The inner garment fret, not th' utter touch.
    • Milton
      Through utter and through middle darkness borne.
  2. (obsolete) Outward. [13th–16th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII:
      Wo be to you scrybes and pharises ypocrites, for ye make clene the utter side off the cuppe, and off the platter: but within they are full of brybery and excesse.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10:
      So forth without impediment I past, / Till to the Bridges utter gate I came […] .
  3. Absolute, unconditional, total, complete. [from 15th c.]
    utter ruin; utter darkness
    • Atterbury
      They […] are utter strangers to all those anxious thoughts which disquiet mankind.
    • 1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maiden of Mars, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
      His eyes could not penetrate the darkness even to the distinguishing of his hand before his face, while the banths, he knew, could see quite well, though absence of light were utter.
Synonyms
  • see also Wikisaurus:total
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Partly from out (adverb/verb), partly from Middle Dutch uteren.

Verb

utter ‎(third-person singular simple present utters, present participle uttering, simple past and past participle uttered)

  1. (transitive) To say
    Don't you utter another word!
  2. (transitive) To use the voice
    Sally uttered a sigh of relief.
    The dog uttered a growling bark.
  3. (transitive) To make speech sounds which may or may not have an actual language involved
    Sally is uttering some fairly strange things in her illness.
    • 2007, Don DeLillo, Underworld: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Scribner Classics, ISBN 978-1-4165-9585-4, page 543:
      I wanted to look up velleity and quotidian and memorize the fuckers for all time, spell them, learn them, pronounce them syllable by syllable—vocalize, phonate, utter the sounds, say the words for all they're worth.
  4. (transitive) To make (a noise)
    Sally's car uttered a hideous shriek when she applied the brakes.
  5. (law, transitive) To put counterfeit money, etc., into circulation
    • 1881, Ephraim Arnold Jacob, ‎Robert Alexander Fisher, An Analytical Digest of the Law and Practice of the Courts of Common Law
      If two jointly prepare counterfeit coin, and utter it in different shops apart from each other, but in concert, and intending to share the proceeds, the utterings of each are the joint utterings of both, and they may be convicted jointly.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Old English ūtor, comparative of ūt ‎(“out”).

Adverb

utter ‎(comparative more utter, superlative most utter)

  1. (obsolete) Further out; further away, outside.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse otr, from Proto-Germanic *utraz, from Proto-Indo-European *udrós ‎(“water-animal, otter”), from *wed- ‎(“water”).

Noun

utter c

  1. otter; a mammal of the family Mustelidae

Declension

Inflection of utter 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative utter uttern uttrar uttrarna
Genitive utters utterns uttrars uttrarnas

Etymology

From Old English ūtera, comparative of ūt ‎(“out”); compare outer.

Pronunciation

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